Gulf Coast News

Bahri Highlights Growing US Presence

Highlighting its growing presence in the U.S., global logistics and transportation company Bahri, represented by its Bahri Logistics business unit, participated at Breakbulk Americas 2018 exhibition for the project cargo and breakbulk industry, held October 2-4 in Houston.The three-day event attracted a number of visitors and exhibitors, including specialized ocean carriers, freight forwarders, ports and terminals, logistics providers, export packers, and road, rail, barge and air transportation companies, among many others.

Port of Beaumont Purchases Former CB&I Property

On July 3, 2018, the Port of Beaumont formalized the purchase of the former Chicago Bridge & Iron fabrication facility located at 850 Pine Street, Beaumont, Texas for $8.25 million. To facilitate the growth of the property, the Port of Beaumont has entered into a public-private partnership with Allegiant Industrial Island Park, LLC. Initial plans for the property, to be named Port of Beaumont Allegiant Island Park, include rehabilitation of the fabrication facility and paint shop, full rebuild of the docks, and upgrades to all utilities.

OP/ED: How Growth Can Benefit the Environment

You might call 2017 a banner year for California ports. San Pedro Bay, home to the nation's leading twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach exceeded their pre-recession peaks. Collectively, San Pedro Bay was up 7.2% from its 2006 peak. It took a decade to get there and while you wouldn't want that sort of annualized growth going forward, it did arguably mark the end of San Pedro Bay's recession dip. More importantly, growth looks to continue in 2018. As of the end of May, year to date container volumes are 3.7% higher over the same period in 2017.

Hurricane Michael Races Northeast, Leaving Devastation in Florida

Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle.By 6 AM on Thursday, heavy rain and wind had reached as far north as Charlotte, North Carolina and the Western North Carolina mountains. The center of the storm was located over Augusta, Georgia, moving north rapidly at more than 20 MPH in a north / northeast heading. Charlotte…

US Oil Exports to India Soar Ahead of Iran Sanctions

U.S. crude oil exports to India hit a record in June and so far this year are almost double last year's total as the Asian nation's refiners move to replace supplies from Iran and Venezuela in a win for the Trump administration.U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has been pressuring its allies to cut imports of Iranian goods to zero by November and India's shift advances the U.S. administration efforts to use energy to further its political goals.The United States has become a major crude exporter…

Roll Group Awarded Contract for Shipment of Three Boilers

Roll Group has been awarded a contract by Fagioli and Macchi for the transportation of three large boilers for the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project. Presently the voyage from Porto Marghera (Italy) to Corpus Christi (USA) is scheduled to take place between August and September 2019. Each of the three boilers weigh in excess of 1000 metric tons.The dimensions of the boilers to be transported in 2019 are all identical with a length of 30.30m, a width of 16.40m and a height of 22.70m.

Port Manatee, Carver Maritime Ink Long-term Terminal Deal

Port Manatee and Carver Maritime LLC have entered a long-term marine terminal operating agreement for a 10-acre aggregate offloading facility at the Florida Gulf Coast port.The agreement, for as many as 20 years including options, was approved Thursday by the Manatee County Port Authority and ensures property lease payments totaling $1.8 million for the initial five-year term, in addition to wharfage payments for annual cargo throughputs.Carver Laraway, president of Altamont,…

Mississippi River Ship Channel Deepening Project Moves Forward

The Mississippi River Ship Channel could be the first port complex on the Gulf Coast to reach a depth of 50 feet now that the Director’s Report has been signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Elected officials and industry leaders have long worked to increase the channel’s depth to 50 feet, which is the same depth of the expanded Panama Canal.In signing the Report, Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works James C. Dalton stated the project is “economically justified and…

Marine Jet Power Hires Tilton

Jordan Tilton has rejoined the Marine Jet Power (MJP) sales team as Program Manager responsible for key account management and aftermarket business development in the Americas.Tilton has more than 15 years experience in the commercial marine sector. He began his career on the Great Lakes captaining high speed ferries and also worked as a captain on board yachts and commercial vessels in the Gulf Coast and Caribbean before joining U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air…

Largest Oil Shipment Sent from Vancouver to China Since 2015

An Aframax tanker is scheduled to deliver the largest shipment of crude oil from Vancouver to China since January 2015 later this month, Thomson Reuters trade flow data show.For years, Canadian officials have pushed for an escalation in crude exports to rapidly growing Asian markets, but companies in the oil-rich Alberta have limited capacity to move crude to the nation's western coastline.That makes Canadian crude exports from Vancouver to Asia rare, but shipments have picked up in recent months, with oil tankers to China, Thailand and South Korea departing in April and July.

US Energy Exports to China Plummet

It's probably not the kind of success U.S. President Donald Trump had in mind, but his trade dispute with China has effectively killed off the burgeoning energy trade between the world's two biggest economies.China's imports of U.S. crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal have slowed to a trickle amid the escalating tit-for-tat tariff war.Perhaps the irony of the collapse in China's energy imports from the United States was that this was the area most likely to deliver…

Chevron Eyes Houston Ship Channel for 2nd US Gulf Refinery

Chevron Corp wants to build or buy a refinery along the U.S. Gulf Coast to process crude oil from its rapidly growing Permian Basin operations, a senior executive said on Tuesday.The company would like to have refining operations on the Houston Ship Channel, in the western part of the U.S. Gulf, to complement an existing eastern Gulf refinery in Mississippi that makes lubricants and other materials, Pierre Breber, Chevron's head of downstream and chemicals, said."Something on the ship channel side could make a lot of sense for our company…

Four LNG Carriers Transit Panama Canal in One Day

The transit of four liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers through the Panama Canal’s Neopanamax Locks in a single day marks a new milestone for the canal and reinforces its capacity to handle growing demand from the U.S., where several new LNG export terminals are scheduled to begin operating.On Monday, the vessels Ribera del Duero Knutsen with a cargo capacity of 173,000 m3 and Maran Gas Pericles with cargo capacity of 174,000 m3 transited northbound, while Torben Spirit with a cargo capacity of 174…

Wison Bags FEED Contract for FLNG Project from Western LNG

Wison Offshore & Marine and Western LNG signed a technical service agreement (TSA) for the new floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that Western is developing in British Columbia, Canada.Pursuant to the TSA, Wison will develop the basis of design (BOD) and carry out front-end engineering design (FEED) for the proposed FLNG to be sited at the proposed facility.Western has also agreed to the appointment of Wison as the EPC service provider for the floating liquefaction plant upon project FID.Under the terms of the TSA…

U.S. Gulf Coast Ports Being Inspected After Storm Gordon

Energy companies and port operators along the U.S. Gulf Coast were taking steps on Wednesday to resume operations after Tropical Storm Gordon shut 9 percent of the region's oil and gas output.Coast Guard inspectors were flying over ports in Mississippi and Alabama to inspect the facilities, which remained closed to most traffic, Petty Officer 3rd Class Alexandria Preston said. In New Orleans, pilots have begun moving cargo ships through mouth of Mississippi River after storm, a spokesman said.Reporting by Gary McWilliams

US Oil Exports to Asia May Slide Further

Rising shipping rates have increased the costs of shipping oil from the United States to Asia and may further the restrict the flow of U.S. oil to the region later this year, multiple trade and shipping sources said on Thursday.Freight rates for tankers that carry crude oil have soared globally, buoyed by peak seasonal demand, weather disruptions and higher bunker fuel costs, the sources said.The cost of chartering a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude from the U.S.

Port of New Orleans Handles Largest Containership to Date

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) welcomed its largest containership ever when the CMA CGM operated Pusan C, a 9,500 twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) vessel, called on October 8 at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal operated by Ports America.“The deployment of larger vessels highlights our strong growth in container volumes and the success of the PEX 3 service connecting America’s heartland to global markets like Asia,” said Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans President and CEO.

UAE Bunker Inquiries Spike on Worries over Singapore Tainted Fuels

Inquiries for marine fuel supplies in the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Fujairah oil hub have spiked as shippers try to avoid loading tainted fuel oil that has clogged and damaged ship engines in Singapore recently, three trade sources said.Tainted marine fuel has been found in Singapore, the world's largest ship refuelling hub, following reports of more than 100 vessels that loaded similarly contaminated fuel in the U.S.

Macroeconomic Trends Signal Good News for Shipping

The current global economic growth (GDP) looks like it may be as good as it gets, with indicators across the globe signaling healthy expansion, but at a slower pace compared to the levels seen in the last half of 2017.Global economic growth seems on track to reach its highest level since 2011, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintain its projection for the world GDP at 3.9 percent and expects the global economic growth to be supported by a strong momentum, favorable market sentiment and accommodative financial conditions in 2018 and 2019.

Corpus Christi Gearing Up to Handle US Shale Export Boom

Port officials on Tuesday are expected to consider $300 million in financing that would prepare the country's largest oil-export port - Corpus Christi, Texas - to handle a surge in U.S. shale production over the next five years.International buyers would like more U.S. crude but are unable to get it because of infrastructure constraints along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Terminals originally designed for imports only recently have revamped operations to handle exports including accepting…

City of North Port, Port Manatee Trade Hub Host Chilean Official

The City of North Port and the International Trade Hub at Port Manatee are teaming with Chile’s trade commissioner in efforts to expand commercial links. “We look forward to realizing vast untapped potential for enhanced ties with both North Port and Port Manatee,” Sacha Garafulic, Chile’s Miami-based trade commissioner, said Wednesday [March 28] as he took part in a symposium and luncheon at North Port’s Shannon Staub Library. North Port Vice Mayor Linda Yates commented Wednesday…

New Ro/Ro Facility Coming to Alabama

Plans are in motion to develop a new vehicle processing roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) facility at Alabama’s Port of Mobile in the U.S.Today in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Alabama State Port Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding with AutoMobile International Terminal, a joint venture of Terminal Zárate S.A. and SAAM Puertos S.A., to develop and operate the new $60 million facility, which is expected to be completed in 2019.The agreement marks a giant step forward in supporting automotive logistics in the Americas and abroad…

Freeport LNG Delays Start of Texas Export Terminal

Freeport LNG, a privately held U.S. liquefied natural gas company, said on Thursday it pushed back the projected start date for its $13 billion export terminal under construction in Texas by about nine months to around Sept. 1, 2019.Freeport LNG now expects the first liquefaction train to enter service around Sept. 1, 2019, with the second and third trains seen in service around Jan. 1 and May 1, 2020, respectively, said Zdenek Gerych, a spokesman at Freeport.Previously, the three…

Ships Carrying US Sorghum U-turn after China Tariffs

Several ships carrying cargoes of sorghum from the United States to China have changed course since Beijing slapped hefty anti-dumping deposits on U.S. imports of the grain, trade sources and a Reuters analysis of export and shipping data showed.Sorghum is a niche animal feed and a tiny slice of the billions of dollars in exports at stake in the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies, which threatens to disrupt the flow of everything from steel to electronics.The supply-chain pain felt by sorghum suppliers on the Pacific…

Tightening CA Environmental Regs Could Impact West Coast Supply Chains

In a similar fashion to Gulf coast offshore energy producers who, in some instances, must document and count the environmental impact of their third party standby boats, offshore service vessels and other assets, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles could soon be burdened with yet another layer of environmental rules. In Southern California, beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) are bracing for yet another set of regulations; this time as a function of cargo transported to and from warehouses and even off-site intermodal rail yards.

PDVSA Halts Caribbean Storage, Shipping; Diverts Oil Cargo

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA suspended oil storage and shipping from its Caribbean facilities following a move by ConocoPhillips to temporarily seize the firm's assets on four islands, according to a PDVSA source and Reuters data.PDVSA has begun concentrating most shipping in its main crude terminal of Jose on Venezuela's eastern coast and recalling tankers to Venezuelan waters to avoid seizures that would further cut its exports and worsen an economy on the verge of collapse.U.S.…